Cultural Competence for Hearing
Parents of Deaf Children
Roger Williams
Raising them up
Self-esteem, high expectations and Deaf Children
Roger and Sherry Williams
Self-esteem
•  How you feel about yourself
–  Ability to act independently and responsibly
–  Handle frustrations
–  Tackle challenges and obstacles
–  A sense of pride in accomplishments
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Cultural Competence for Hearing
Parents of Deaf Children
Roger Williams
Social Emotional Development
0-1
1-2
2-6
6-12
13-18 19-40 40-65
65-
Integrity v
Despair
Generativity v
Stagnation
Intimacy v
Isolation
Identity v Role
Confusion
Competency v
Inferiority
Initiative v
Guilt
Autonomy v
Shame
Trust v
Mistrust
213 per 100,000
Deaf vs. Hearing
Requirement of Educational Failure
Lack of Internalization of Societal Norms
Shame-based perspective on self and “disability”
Requires recognition of deafness and communication needs
Elements of self-esteem
• 
• 
• 
• 
Sense of Connectiveness
Sense of Uniqueness
Sense of Power
Sense of Models
(Clemes & Bean, 1981)
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Cultural Competence for Hearing
Parents of Deaf Children
Roger Williams
Sense of Connectiveness
•  Relationships, within the family and within
the community
–  Physical contact and facial expressions
–  Praise specific behaviors
–  Communication rules for the family
–  Explain family members’ relationships
–  Connection with the Deaf community
(Jambor & Elliott, 2005)
Sense of Uniqueness
•  Child knows what makes them different and
special, while respecting the same in others
–  Encourage creativity
–  Recognize the child as a complete person, not
just their audiogram
–  Strength-based perspective
–  Support individuation from parent
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Cultural Competence for Hearing
Parents of Deaf Children
Roger Williams
Sense of Power
•  Ericson called this competency, a sense of
ability to change their world
–  Develop responsibility for own behavior and
feelings
–  Encourage risk-taking
–  Pick your battles! Allow failure
–  Encourage independence in resolving
communication issues
–  Age appropriate expectations
Sense of Models
•  Ensure the child has examples of the
behaviors you desire
–  You are the first, and the most influential,
model.
–  Demonstrate your thoughts about hearing
loss.
–  Have clear expectations
–  Define what you believe and help your child
do the same
–  Use the connections discussed earlier to
identify role models (both young and old)
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Cultural Competence for Hearing
Parents of Deaf Children
Roger Williams
•  “High achievement always takes place in
the framework of high expectation.” ~
Charles F. Kettering
•  “Believe you can and you’re halfway
there.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt
Elements of self-esteem
• 
• 
• 
• 
Sense of Connectiveness
Sense of Uniqueness
Sense of Power
Sense of Models
•  How can YOU as parents help your child
develop good self-esteem? What kind of
support can you provide?
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Cultural Competence for Hearing
Parents of Deaf Children
Roger Williams
High Expectations
•  A three-way partnership –
–  Parents
–  Teachers
–  Students
Elements of high expectations
• 
• 
• 
• 
Communication
Self-determination
Self-advocacy
Support
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Cultural Competence for Hearing
Parents of Deaf Children
Roger Williams
Communication
• 
• 
• 
• 
Start as early as possible
Read with your child daily
Give them regular chores at home
Encourage them to volunteer in the
community
•  Work with the school to clarify expectations
Self-Determination
•  Encourage your child to think about the
future
•  Use goals, both short-term and long-term
•  Give your child choices
•  Explore options
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Cultural Competence for Hearing
Parents of Deaf Children
Roger Williams
Self-Advocacy
•  Require age appropriate independence
–  Don’t “jump in” to interpret
•  Encourage your child to advocate for himself
at his IEP meetings
Support
•  Give support to your child at home
- listen to his concerns
- encourage him to think of solutions
- provide positive feedback
•  Maintain contact with the school staff
•  Help your child connect with peers
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Cultural Competence for Hearing
Parents of Deaf Children
Roger Williams
The Williams’ Family
References
•  Clemes, H., & Bean, R. (1981). Self-esteem : the key to your
child's well-being. New York: Putnam.
•  Fitzpatrick, M., & Theoharis, R. (2014). The Law And The IEP:
Establishing And Maintaining High Expectations For Deaf
Students With Disabilities. Odyssey, 15, 80-85.
•  Hayes, C. (2014). Teachers, Parents, And—Above All—
Students “Buy In” To Raise Expectations. Odyssey, 15, 10-13.
•  Jambor, E., & Elliott, M. (2005). Self-esteem and Coping
Strategies among Deaf Students. Journal of Deaf Studies and
Deaf Education, 10(1), 63-81. doi: 10.1093/deafed/eni004
•  Williams, R., & Williams, S. (2014). Maintaining High
Expectations. Odyssey, 15, 66-69.
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Cultural Competence for Hearing
Parents of Deaf Children
Roger Williams
Resources
•  www.dawnsign.com – A good source for
books, publications and other materials
•  www.deafchildren.org – The home page for
American Society for Deaf Children
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